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Thanks for visiting my blog. Hope you find some helpful hints for organizing your time and space. My passions are to help you make home a refuge instead of a crisis center, and to help you function in peace rather than chaos - at home or at work. I have switched my main blog to 1-2-3 ... Get Organized on WordPress, so please visit me there.

Friday, October 24, 2008

When I plan my menus for our foster daughters every week, I look through my Hassle Free Dinners CD for recipe ideas. Many of the girls grew up in dysfunctional families with sad nutrition and consequently have very limited tastes. Right now I have girls who don't like: tomatoes, mushrooms, chicken with bones, pears, apples, pork, fish, white cheese, spinach, celery, and the list goes on. You can imagine the challenge it is to fix dinner. I do make them try things at least once, and some of them have added some foods to their repertoir.I hit on one recipe last week that was a success for the two houses of girls to whom I served it. It is from Week 36, the first week in September. I usually try to use recipes from the same season so side dishes use seasonal fruits and vegetables. I adapted Lime Chicken and used chicken tenderloins instead of chicken thighs, so as not to offend my bone-hater. :-) I served it with steamed fresh green beans (I buy the kind that are already trimmed) seasoned with a little butter and garlic salt, rice (took longer than 15 minutes, but I cooked extra for the next day), and a fruit plate consisting of kiwi, raspberries, blackberries, and sliced hand-picked apples.

One week, one of the girls wanted to learn to cook something, so she helped me zest and juice the limes. Lime Chicken (The amounts in parentheses refer to 2, 4, and 6 servings):Limes (2, 4, 6) Honey (1/4, 1/2, 3/4 c.)Ground coriander (1, 2, 3 t.)Salt (1, 2, 3 t.)Pepper (1/2, 1, 1 1/2 t.)Boneless chicken tenderloins (1/2, 1, 1 1/2 lb.)Zest and juice limes and add all other ingredients. Marinate for at least two hours. Grill or cook on a nonstick pan sprayed with cooking oil. This chicken is bursting with lime flavor - so tasty - one of my favorite recipes on the CD.

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I'm An Organizing Junkie says ....

"I know I've reviewed a few organizing books in a row now but I've got another great set to tell you about that I think you're going to like. Professional Organizer Beverly Coggins has created a 1-2-3...Get organized series of seven mini books to help you organize your life one book at a time.

The seven books are as follows:- Three Steps to Organizing your Child's Room- Three Steps to Decluttering- Three Steps to Organizing your Kitchen- Three Steps to Organizing your Office- Three Steps to Time Management for the Stay-at-Home Mom- Three Steps to Clever Cleaning- Three Steps to Time Management at the Office

Each books consists of three main steps with each step offering plenty of tips and advice broken down into quick and easy to read points.

I'll tell you what I love most about these books. Not only are they small but the plastic glossy pages are wonderfully durable making them perfect for throwing into your purse to take out and read whenever you are stuck in a "hurry up and wait" situation. I also love the colorful pages as presentation is very important to me.

For those a little more ambitious and wanting to really get serious about getting organized she offers a workbook series that comes complete with checklists, questionnaires and templates on CD. Some of the titles include Three Steps to Downsizing to a Smaller Residence, Three Steps to Time Management for the Working Mom and Three Steps to Planning Dinner. These do-it-yourself guides are very thorough with Bev carefully walking you through each step of the process.

Now I've saved the best for last. One of the other things Bev includes in some of her packages is a Hassle Free Dinners CD. This CD is a menu planners dream and you all know how I feel about menu planning! It offers 52 dinner menus complete with step-by-step instructions and recipes along with coordinating color-coded weekly shopping lists. I am very impressed with how much work this must have been to put together especially since everything you need to put quick, nutritious, sophisticated meals on the table is included! She also didn't repeat an entree for the entire year either! Well done Bev!"